The Witness
by Imagine Wings
Summary: Spin off of The Editor. Yokozawa's heart has just been broken after having been in love for seven years. However, for some reason the events from 8 years ago are swirling through his mind. Then, in walks... Rating may go up.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, what's up. So I know you all were probably looking for The Editor update, but well, inspiration hit for The Witness instead of for the next chapter for The Editor. Sorry, my brain works in weird ways. I'll try to have the next chapter of The Editor posted by the end of the week so please be patient with me. This chapter takes place the day after the fight Yokozawa had with Onodera in The Editor. In fact it is the same day as when Onodera is released from jail and decides he wants to live his life to his own satisfaction.**

 **Anywho,**

 **I do not own Sekaiich Hatsukoi.**

* * *

They were celebrating. Exams were finally over for their first year in college. Their fake ID's had gotten them into the bar where the DJ was on fire. Everything was awesome… and Yokozawa felt miserable. Not an hour before, did his parents finally break the news that his maternal grandmother had not only been hospitalized during his exams, but had passed away a full day and a half ago. Yokozawa had always been closest with her and he hadn't even gone and seen her in her last few days because his parents wanted him to focus on his exams. They'd told him that that was what his grandma had wanted as well, believing she would be well in a few days… but now… she was just gone. Yokozawa did not feel like celebrating.

He took a swig of the cocktail he drinking and leaned over to Takano, "Hey, I need some air so I'm going to head out for a minute."

"You okay," Takano asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." With that Yokozawa stood up and made his way out of the club. It was quiet outside even though the street was reasonably busy with foot traffic. Maybe it was because of the brisk cool wind of the Spring evening. Yokozawa took a deep breath. The cool air seemed to clear his head. He would miss his grandmother terribly but at least he'd get to say goodbye at the funeral. _"She'd be proud to know I got a part time job at a publishing company. Maybe that's what I should do… live to make her and her memory proud,"_ Yokozawa thought with a sigh.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME," a woman's scream suddenly rang out. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Yokozawa's body unconsciously moved to where the scream seemed to come from. It was an alleyway, filled with trash, beer bottles, condoms, cigarette butts, and the putrid smell of rotting food from the dumpsters. But none of that matter as Yokozawa moved into the alley. There was a man behind one of the dumpsters, seemingly bent over.

"Hey," Yokozawa yelled, "What the hell's going on?" The man looked up directly at Yokozawa. The face he wore chilled Yokozawa to his bones. The man had cold, coal black eyes, framed by reddish brown hair. His nose was crooked, as if it had been broken when he was younger and had never been properly set. His thin lips pulled back over his gleaming teeth in a sneer. His right canine tooth looked to be made of gold. He wore dark clothing and a black leather jacket. He rose to his full height of 175cm and looked to be between 75 to 85 kilograms.

The man quickly turned away from Yokozawa running the opposite way down the alley. Yokozawa could only stand and watch the retreating figure as if he was frozen to the spot. He didn't even realize though, that his head had turned to where the man had been bent over. There looked to be a pool of some kind of liquid and within the liquid there was a knife. The cold steel didn't glint in the moonlight though, as it too was covered with the liquid. However, Yokozawa couldn't be bothered with any of that.

No, what bother Yokozawa was the pair of women's heels that were still attached to the legs that weren't moving. Yokozawa finally found his voice as he breathily called, "Hello?" The legs didn't even seem to twitch.

Yokozawa cautiously took a step forward but still no movement from the legs. He made his way over to the dumpster, pausing just before the corner to take a breath and try and find his courage. The legs still had not moved and their stillness truly unnerved him and the darkness within the alley was not helping him either. He turned the corner, hand resting on the lid of the dumpster. The legs were attached to skirt, which was attached to a topless… mannequin. Yokozawa took a breath before chuckling lightly at his own unwarranted fear.

He moved his hand away from the dumpster to rub his forehead, _"What an idiot, to be scared of a mannequin. Seriously? Maybe I've been watching to many movies. What the fuck,"_ he chuckled again. However, the chuckled was short lived as he felt liquid on his fingers fall and a sticky substance residing on the places where he had touched his face. He looked down at the knife…

Bending down, he touched the liquid. It was the same sticking substance he had been feeling. He brought his forefinger and thumb closer to his face. In the dim moonlight, he could make out a dark red color. He felt a cold sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he looked up at the dumpster to where his hand had been. The red liquid was there as well, as if something had been dragged against it. Yokozawa stood up. His breathing was thundering in his ears as he placed his hand against the lid of the dumpster. His heart was beating erratically as if it would either beat out of his chest or give him a heart attack at any second. He lifted the lid of the dumpster.

" _Help me,"_ came a faint whisper.

* * *

Yokozawa woke with a start. It had been a while since he had dreamed of that night. With his head pounding Yokozawa decided to blame it on all the alcohol he had consumed the night before.

With a start, the first thing he noticed was that he was completely naked. The next was that he was in an unfamiliar room. And finally, he noticed the foreign muscled arm haphazardly draped arm his shoulder and across his chest. He almost didn't want to look to see what he knew would be laying beside him. Still, Yokozawa's eyes traveled up the arm and he turned to see… a man that looked a lot like Masamune.

Yokozawa could only think one word for this, _"Shit!"_

As Yokozawa further examined the room he was in, he realized it was a hotel, or more specifically it was a love hotel for a certain fetish. That's when he noticed the thing he should have noticed from the start: he was handcuffed to the bed.

" _WHAT THE FUCK?! WHERE'S THE GODDAMN KEY? GET ME OUT OF HERE!"_ Yokozawa was wildly looking around for where the key might be, except it wasn't on the nightstand. He was now praying that it wasn't on the floor where he couldn't reach it. That's when he turned and noticed that the man had a necklace on. Yokozawa's eyes traveled down the chain, to the man's well-muscled chest and saw the key hanging there unassumingly.

Yokozawa was stunned. With both arms handcuffed to the bed, he had been planning on using his feet to get the key off the nightstand if it had been there. But on another person? There was no way he could get it without disturbing the stranger.

" _What am I going to do? Shit! How drunk did I get last night? I would never normally do something like this!"_ Yokozawa started to freak out. He glanced at his wrist to see that there were bruises from where he'd obviously struggled with the cuffs the night before. No matter what, he had to get out of this situation. He squeezed his eyes shut as he decided on the course of action he would take.

As quietly as possible, he leaned toward the man's chest and opened his mouth. Using his tongue, he picked up the key and closed his teeth around it. He raised his head and lifted his body as he tried to pull the necklace away from the man.

That's when the man smiled. "Are you so eager to be punished again that you're hoping an attempted escape will rouse my sadistic tendencies? Well, congratulations. You're correct!" The man's eyes flew open as he quickly turned his body and straddled Yokozawa before descending his mouth on Yokozawa's lips and biting Yokozawa's bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

"STOP," Yokozawa cried.

"Oh no, I think not. Naughty children deserved to be punished. But clearly I was too gentle last night. I won't make that mistake again." The man smiled as he leaned down, getting ready for round 2, but this time Yokozawa was ready for him. He violently jerked his head up and head butted the man's nose. "OWWWW," the man cried as he pulled away and climbed off of Yokozawa, What the fuck? I'm bleeding asshole!"

"Serves you right," Yokozawa bit back. "Now uncuff me dumbass!"

"Okay, okay, okay, geez!" The man griped as he removed the key and quickly did as Yokozawa asked. As soon as Yokozawa was freed, he stood up and grabbed his clothes and made record time getting dressed. "Geez, what is your problem, last night you said you wanted to be taught a lesson you'd never forget. Now your acting as if you have worms or something."

"Really? I said that? I really said that," Yokozawa seethed.

"Well… I guess you could have also said you had been taught a lesson you'd never forget… It was really hard to understand what the hell you were saying because you were so drunk. But hey, we really had fun and you seemed to enjoy it so stop acting like that."

"Fuck off." Yokozawa stood and exited the room, the man closely following.

"Come on, let's exchange numbers. We're really compatible and the sex was great."

"I'M NOT GAY," Yokozawa cried.

"Sure, you keep telling yourself that," the man smirked.

"LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE," Yokozawa yelled over his shoulder as he exited the hotel. He turned to stomp away only to walk straight into someone and fall on his ass. "Ow, the fuck."

"Yokozawa san," questioned the familiar voice in front of him. Yokozawa's eyes trailed up the tall figure to see someone he'd seen very recently at the company.

"Kirishima san? What are you doing here?" However, before Kirishima could answer, the man caught up to where they were.

"Hey, who the fuck are you? What the fuck are you doing with my fuck?" The man yelled as he rushed forward to push Kirishima. Kirishima though, was not taking any shit and simply bent down at the waist and flipped the man over his back.

The man laid there stunned as Kirishima reached down and grabbed the man's phone and wallet. "I do believe you should leave Mr." Kirsishima paused to look through the man's wallet, "Keiichi Masahiro. Especially before I call the cops." Already, Kirishima's fingers were moving over the man's phone as Kirishima tossed the wallet back at Keiichi.

Keiichi quickly stood and turned and ran away leaving his phone, Kirishima, and Yokozawa behind. Yokozawa, finally regaining his head, stood up, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Is that anyway to say thank you to the guy that just saved you," Kirishima quipped with a smile. "Still, who'd have thought that the Wild Horse of Marukawa was gay and liked to frequent S&M hotels?"

"I'M NOT GAY! And I don't frequent S&M hotels. I've never done any of that shit in my entire life!"

"Says the guy with bruises on his wrists and a bleeding lip as well as several other injuries. Seriously you look like you were in a fight. What, did you and your boyfriend get into a fight?"

Yokozawa was beet red. He'd forgot about the injuries he's received during his fight with Onodera the day before. It really must look like he was into S&M. However, his pride could not stand for something like any of this or that. Yokozawa balled up his fist and threw a punch.

Kirishima though, with a smile, sidestepped the punch before quickly grabbing Yokozawa's arm, spinning him round and pinning him against the wall, all while still musing through Keiichi's forgotten phone.

"Let me go asshole," Yokozawa yelled as he struggle to break free from the iron grip. However, Kirishima still didn't say anything until…

"OH, ho, ho, ho. Hello," he grinned.

"Let go!"

"You're really quite lewd aren't you?"

"What?"

"Just these pictures… wow. I didn't think you were that flexible. How'd you even get into that position."

"What are you talking about."

"This is just to impressive, and send."

"Send? Send? Send to whom? What are you doing? Let go! Who'd you send these photos too?"

"Myself of course. This is all just way to golden, I've got to have a copy," Kirishima grinned as he let go of Yokozawa.

"Delete them!"

"Yes, yes, yes," Kirishima grinned as he monkeyed with the phone before tossing it to Yokozawa. "There the photos are deleted, you can check."

"Delete the photos you sent yourself now too."

"Can't."

"What?"

"I don't have my phone with me and even if I did I wouldn't want too."

"What?"

"You know for an adult you're not terribly bright." Yokozawa blinked. "You're starting to be blackmailed," Kirishima slowly spelled it out. Yokozawa's eyes bulged as he stared at Kirishima who was grinning ear to ear. "Well, now that we have all that cleared up, I really must be going. Grocery shopping you know. Ta, ta, Yokozawa san. I'll be seeing you really soon." Kirishima laughed as he turned and walked away.

"… What the fuck just happened?"

* * *

 **Hey guys, so I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and that it sparked your interest for what will happen :-D I haven't decided if this will remain rated T. I may move if up to M depending on how graphic I want to be with... For now it will be rated T.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, sorry this is late but I hope you enjoy. I'm trying to balance the dark and the light elements so please tell me what you think :-D**

 **I do not own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi.**

* * *

Yokozawa was frozen in shock. The woman couldn't have been much older than him, maybe in her mid-twenties. Even though she was bleeding, it was clear she was very beautiful with her long light brown hair and light chocolate eyes. The trash in the dumpster stunk of rotting food which had fallen on the woman when she was tossed in. Normally people would be upset about all the trash, but she was bleeding so prolifically that the trash was the least of her concerns. The woman gazed at him in a silent plea for help.

Yokozawa didn't even remember reaching into the dumpster and pulling her out. Suddenly, she was lying on the ground next to the pool of her blood with the knife in it. Yokozawa quickly removed his sweatshirt to press against the wounds. He couldn't believe she was still alive as it looked like she had been stabbed at least twelve times. Maybe it was last surge strength, but the woman started talking… as if she felt she needed to explain herself, "… ha, ha guess I'm gonna… lose the baby… Haven't told… husband… yet… just comin' back… from my… gyno…gyn…cologist and… OB…GYN… He said… he wouldn't… wouldn't…"

"Shh," Yokozawa finally found his voice. "It's okay, um t…tr…try not to talk… save your strength."

"I screamed… said he wouldn't… hurt… so long as … stayed quiet… but I screamed?" Yokozawa hurriedly search his pockets for his phone, but his hands were shaking so badly that when he did find it, it slipped out of his hands. "I need… I need to see 'em. I need… my family." The woman reached up and desperately grabbed Yokozawa's shirt. The blood was pooling from her mouth as she desperately tried to keep focus. "I need… I need to… to tell him…" her breathing was becoming even more labored. "Ha, eh, ha… can… you can tell… him... ha, eh, ha, eh you tell him…"

She never finished the sentence. All Yokozawa could do was watch as her grip loosened on his shirt. As her hand fell to the ground with a small thud. As her eye dimmed and the last of her tears fell, all he could do was watch her die. That's when his phone finally connected with emergency services.

* * *

Yokozawa was shocked. It wasn't shocking that Isaka san had called both he and Onodera to his office to reprimand them and tell them to not go within a 100 meters of one another. It wasn't shocking that everyone was staring at all of his injuries when they thought he wasn't looking or wouldn't notice. It wasn't shocking that the mere mention of Takano would cause his heart to throb and break in his chest. No… what shocked Yokozawa was that every time he turned around, Kirishima was there with his annoying smile and dragging him out and about. What's more, Kirishima seemed to enjoy the time they were spending together.

It had been four days since his fight with Onodera and every night apart from that Sunday night, Kirishima had been keeping him out well past midnight, though, they wouldn't go to any bars. Yokozawa was still shocked at how late the karaoke houses stayed open. What was more, Kirishima had somehow managed to get him to sing at least once each of the past nights.

" _I never even sang 'Happy Birthday' as a child, yet I let him goad me into something like… karaoke? Plus bowling? What the fuck is the matter with me? I really need to get those photos off of his phone. But how? I mean Friday is the big Marukawa New Year's party so he'll be distracted then, but I can't go because… and Saturday is Christmas Eve and…_ _ **his**_ _birthday. I always celebrated it with him. I could always pretend during that time that we were… Haaa, I can't pretend anymore with him. I have nowhere to go but home and work really. Over these past few years, even though I've been successful at work, I've really isolated myself from everyone but Masamune. Can I even still call him that,"_ Yokozawa sadly thought as he turned around back to his desk, only to jump.

Kirishima was standing there quietly watching, with a smile that could melt the pants off every woman in the building. "What the hell do you want," Yokozawa practically screeched in surprise.

"Well I at first wanted you to turn around so I could talk to you but then I couldn't help but admire… your backside. It's a shame you can't wear shorts to work, because they would really highlight your asset," Kirishima smiled.

Yokozawa stiffened completely livid. It didn't a genius to see through Kirishima's pun… ass-et. All the walking he did had turned his asset into buns of steel… his legs too. He just couldn't believe Kirishima would say that in a work setting with colleagues milling about. Yokozawa could only think, _"I'm going to kill this fucker!"_ As the color rose to Yokozawa's face Kirishima started to laugh.

The way Yokozawa looked at the moment was like a lit fuse of a bomb, about to go off at any moment. "Quit laughing you ass and just tell me what you want," Yokozawa seethed.

"Well… since you asked so nicely what are your plans for the 24th?"

"Huh?"

"What. Are. You. Doing. On. The. 24th," Kirishima enunciated.

" _What the fuck? Is he a freaking mind reader,"_ Yokozawa thought. "What's it to you!"

"Great so you don't have any plans. So, how about you come by my place at around 3ish, here's the address, and be sure to bring some macaroons with you: the brighter and more Spring-ish the color, the better. Don't be late or you'll face the scariest thing on the planet, and plus you know you'll get the best holiday dinner anyone can ever have," Kirishima grinned broadly before stepping closer to Yokozawa to whisper, "You know, as delicious as those photos are, there's something I've got to tell you."

"What," Yokozawa asked cautiously, anything involving those photos had forced him to walk on eggshells.

"Well, those photos show your embarrassed face quite a bit so I hate to add to it," Kirishima smirked.

" _Yeah right, this jackass is using any excuse to lord it over me,"_ Yokozawa thought.

"But I feel it's really, really important to tell you…"

Yokozawa waited as Kirishima paused, drawing it out until Yokozawa snapped, "Tell me what!"

"Well… your fly's down."

"WHAT," Yokozawa looked down at his trousers only to find that they were completely in order.

Kirishima burst out laughing as he walked away. "Remember the 24th at 3 and bring a snack!"

"YOU ASSHOLE!" Kirishima merely waved his hand.

While Yokozawa stood there fuming Henmi came back into the office. "Aww, did I miss Kirishima san?"

"GET BACK TO WORK," Yokozawa yelled as he stormed back to his desk.

As Henmi sat down, he whispered to his colleague, Suoh Kazuma, "I know Kirishima san has been stopping by everyday and getting Yokozawa fired up, but today its like Kirishima san got him back to his old self. So what'd he say?"

"He invited Yokozawa san to his house for Christmas Eve," Suoh answered quietly.

"Wow, they're such really good friends! But how does that make Yokozawa san upset?"

"I don't know. It's Yokozawa san, nothing this past week has made sense about him," Suoh replied.

" _Why the hell would he invite me to his house? Does he think that just because he has those photos of me he can force me into a relationship with him,"_ Yokozawa yelled in his head.

" _Technically he's already forced you into a relationship. You're friends,"_ his devil's advocate voice quipped.

"I'm going out to check the bookstores," Yokozawa called as he briskly stood up and quickly walked out of the office. However, he was not quick enough to avoid hearing the audible sigh of relief everyone breathed as he left.

* * *

"Yokozawa san so good to see you again," called Marimo Books' manager as he noticed Yokozawa enter.

"And to you as well. Just coming to check up on the sales and the placement Marukawa's literature here in your store," Yokozawa worked up a seemingly professional smile.

"Well, we can hardly keep you stuff in stock. Our person in charge of literature section simply adores books and that boy could probably sell snow to a polar bear. Actually I've been meaning to ask you who the editor is for these books," the manager said while reaching for a piece of paper.

"Well I probably can't tell you who each editor is for all the books but," then Yokozawa glanced at the list of books, "Oh those are all edited by Kisa Shouta."

"Really? All of them? I thought for sure it would be four or five."

"Yea, in fact these look like all the books Kisa san has edited since he joined the company. Who's the person in charge of the literature section again, Yuki-something or other right?"

"Uh he's not here right now but I'm sure you can get an idea about his mindset if you check out how he's set up your books," the manager smiled.

"Thanks, I'll do that," Yokozawa replied before walking away. When he arrived at the literature section on the second floor, he was struck by how neat and organized all the books were as well as the distinct prominence of Marukawa Shoten and Onodera Publishing books (which was like a giant stab to the heart). Though the books Kisa edited were the most clear and centered of all the books Yokozawa noted as he walked through the isles. _"If they weren't both men I wonder what it would look or be like if they dated one another,"_ Yokozawa passingly thought.

As he continued to stare, he tried to think of all the things he would do differently but could not find a single idea. The person in charge really knew what he was doing, especially since he made it so eye catching. He was so busy looking at the display that he almost failed to notice the girl who was also there just in front of the literary magazine section.

She was standing on her tiptoes trying to reach one of the magazines. "Oh here," Yokozawa said gruffly as he quickly grabbed the magazine and handed it to her.

"Thank you so much," the girl grinned up at him before quickly bowing her head in thanks, surprising him. Most people when they saw his face and demeanor would turn and run for the hills. However, this girl continued to smile at him as she opened the magazine.

As he looked, Yokozawa noticed that the magazine the half-pint had been reaching for was none other than Marukawa's literary magazine _Japun_. _"Great, so elementary students like that manipulative, nonsensical, giant pain in the ass's magazine. I really have no hope for the future,"_ he sighed.

"Hey… Onii san," the middle-schooler smiled up at him again. "Thank you again. This is for you." She handed a couple of pieces of brightly rapped candy before turning and running along on her merry way.

Yokozawa watched her go noting that she couldn't have been more then 10 or 11. She had shoulder-length light brown hair and light chocolate colored eyes. She had her hair gathered up into a ponytail with a pink scrunchie. Yokozawa looked down at the candies, _"Wow, she's such a sweet girl,"_ he smiled shyly before unwrapping one candy and popping it into his mouth.

* * *

The rest of the week went by without much further incident. Since he wasn't allowed to attend the New Year celebration, Yokozawa got to start his three-day vacation early as the company only worked a half-day. However, when he arrived home, he simply fed Sorata, who had started putting on the winter weight back in April, and worked on the work that he had brought home with him well past 1 in the morning. Only then did he remember to eat something before hopping off to bed.

" _You know for a bachelor,"_ his devil's advocate's voice spoke, _"you lead an incredibly boring ass life. Seriously, you didn't need to work on all that work. It's called a vacation for reason. Hit a club or at least pretend to have and do something fun."_

" _I'm not getting drunk again like last weekend,"_ he thought.

" _You can have fun without getting drunk. Even though you won't admit it, you've been having fun with Kirishima san this past week and you haven't been drunk._ "

" _Oh shut up!"_ He continued arguing with himself like this until 4 in the morning when he finally fell asleep.

Then 6'o-clock rolled around and… BeeDeeBeepBeeDeeBeep. It took Yokozawa several minutes to figure out that it wasn't his alarm clock going off, but his cell phone. However, by that time, he'd already received another text.

 _When are you leaving to come over?_ The first message read.

 _Did you already buy the macaroons? If see any in light pink or purple, GET THEM!_ Yokozawa stared several minutes more just to receive another text. _Be sure not to eat anything before you come so you can really enjoy the meal!_

Yokozawa finally woke up enough to type, _Who da hell dis?_ Not two seconds later did he get the reply…

 _It's Kirishima silly ;-P_

"It's 6'o-clock in the fucking morning! What the hell is this guy made of? Up all night and get up early in the morning," Yokozawa cried.

BeeDeeBeepBeeDeeBeep

Yokozawa didn't even bother looking at the text as he dialed Kirishima.

"Hello," sang the older man's voice on the other end of the line.

"KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY! It's 6'o-clock in the morning. Who gets up this early?"

"Well I thought for sure you did. Kind of surprises me that you do something normal like sleeping in. What happened? Late night last night?"

"That's none of your business!"

"None of my busin… oh my god you were actually still working weren't you?"

"NO," Yokozawa answered too quickly as the heat rose to his face.

"You do know we're on vacation don't you. You don't have to work. What, were you lonely without me and decide to throw yourself into work to forget about me?"

"NO… Shut up!"

"Oh Yokozawa kun you are so sweet, I can practically see your read face through the phone. It's adorable," Kirishima laughed.

"You… You are so… You are so…" Yokozawa desperately tried to think of an appropriate word.

"Hey, I've got to go, really busy right now so if you think of an adjective, text me. Bye," Kirishima sang.

"Hey Dad, when's he coming over," cried a young voice on Kirishima's end of the line before it went dead.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

 _"I like this one,"_ his devil's advocate's voice poured salt in the wound.

* * *

 **Before you type anything... Yes...**

 **That's all I feel like saying :-D**

 **Hope you enjoyed.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi.**

* * *

Yokozawa was in shock. Not twenty minutes ago, a woman, he'd never met, had just died in his arms. He was visibly shaking as the cops were questioning him. He wanted to call Takano for support but…

"If you saw the man again, would you recognize him," asked a detective. Yokozawa glanced at the detective, shuddering. That man, with his cold, coal black eyes, still sent chills down Yokozawa's spine. He was positive that as long as he lived, Yokozawa would never forget that terrifying man. He just barely nodded his head, the detective pursed his lips before continuing, "Then would you mind sitting down with a sketch artist?"

"…Yea," Yokozawa whispered as he pulled the blanket, they'd given him for shock, tighter around himself.

"Okay, well I know you're tired, but I need you to go through this all over again. Why were you out here," the detective asked as they placed the woman in a body bag and started wheeling her to the coroner's van. The detective seemed to be in his late-twenties with hair as dark as Takano's hair. His eyes were a shimmering ocean-blue green and his mouth had wrinkles around it from smiling to much, though he was doing anything but right then.

"…He threw her in the dumpster… with all that… trash… like he thought she was trash," Yokozawa whispered. The detective's eyes took on a look of sympathy. "She said, she said she was coming back from the doctor."

"The doctor? Why," asked the detective.

"Because she's pregnant." The detective's eyes widened in shock and horror as he looked over at the body bag. It took him several seconds to regain his voice.

"I know this is an awful question but when we make an arrest, and we will make an arrest, the dirt bag's attorney will bring this up, so… have or had you ever met this woman before tonight?"

Yokozawa shook his head again. "…He threw her in the trash…"

* * *

Yokozawa was standing in front of Kirishima's apartment door for a good five minutes. It was 7:45 am. After Kirishima's phone call this morning, forcing him to come over, he'd took ten minutes getting readying, then he'd had to go to four different bakeries because they weren't open yet, to find one with macaroons, but then he'd ended up having to go to another bakery to get ones with the right colors. It was damn embarrassing for him.

" _I swear, this damn Kirishima… AHHHH,"_ Yokozawa thought. He took another couple of breaths before stepping forward and knocking. _"I really just want to go back to bed."_

" _With Kirishima right,"_ his devil's advocate's voice quipped.

" _Shut up!"_

Just then the door opened. Yokozawa saw absolutely nothing… until he looked down to find the familiar tiny person in front of him.

"It's you," breathed the girl with brightly lit light chocolate colored eyes.

Yokozawa could only stare. It was the girl he'd helped yesterday at Marimo books. "Umm… hi," he flummoxed.

"Hi," she brightly cried, "Nice to meet you. I'm Kirishima Hiyori," she bowed.

"Ahh, hi… I'm Yokozawa Takafumi," he finally remembered his manners. "Um, I think these are for you," he held up the bag of macaroons he'd gotten.

"Oh thank you so much Yokozawa san," Hiyori smiled as she gleefully took the bag, "Please, come in. Papa, he's here."

" _He has a kid?"_

" _Well, he does wear a ring,"_ his devil's advocate's voice responded.

" _Yea, but… he's a father? I did not see that one coming."_

" _Ho, ho, ho."_

Yokozawa was taking off his shoes when Kirishima came to the genkan. "Oh, Yokozawa, I'm so glad you could make it," he smiled.

Yokozawa glared at him, "Glad I could make it? You're the one who wouldn't let me sleep and made me come!"

"And now you're here, isn't it wonderful?"

"Why you…"

"Would you like some breakfast? It's getting made now," Hiyori poked her head into the genkan.

"Oh, he'd love some," Kirishima quickly responded before turning back to Yokozawa, "Now, are you going to stay here all day or are you coming in?" Yokozawa could only glare before he got up and stomped after Kirishima.

When he entered the kitchen he was greeted with so many delicious aromas that it may it almost worth being woken up so early, almost. "You do the cooking Kirishima," Yokozawa asked.

"You kidding me? I can just barely cut an apple. You're looking at the best cook in Tokyo," Kirishima smiled as he clapped his hand on Hiyori's shoulder, who shyly smiled up at her father.

"What are you making," Yokozawa looked down at Hiyori gently.

"Oh, I'm making miso soup, nori, tsukemono pickles, okayu, aji, and tamagoyaki," Hiyori smiled.

"Wow, that sounds delicious."

"I'm almost done with the aji so I can serve you up in a second. Sit down," Hiyori motioned towards the table.

"I'll get you some coffee," Kirishima smiled as he walked towards the coffee maker. Yokozawa stood there awkwardly for a moment before jarringly taking a seat the table. The aji sizzled on the grill while Hiyori mixed together the grated daikon radish with soy sauce to flavor the fish with.

"Oh, your going to want to put some of the sauce on the aji now so the flavor has time to sink into the fish," Yokozawa said.

Hiyori looked up surprised, "You know how to cook?"

"Umm, a little."

"Really? Maybe we can cook together," Hiyori cried with glee before she started brushing the sauce on the aji.

* * *

Just as Hiyori said, she had breakfast ready a few minutes later. Yokozawa had prepared his face for if it tasted horrible, but to his surprise, it was delicious. He looked at Hiyori with admiration. Though she was young, she was a remarkably good cook. That's when he noticed Kirishima grinning at him. "See, I told you she's the best chef in Tokyo," he impishly grinned.

Yokozawa could only glare at Kirishima. "Do you like it… Onii-chan," Hiyori asked shyly.

Yokozawa stopped glaring long enough to shove another mouthful of the aji in, taking the time to chew to calm his seething nerves against Kirishima, down. Once he swallowed though, "This is all so delicious, Hiyo chan. Did your mother teach you?"

"Ehm, hmm," she shook her head. "I learned mostly by myself and by cooking with my grandma."

"Wow, that's impressive. My grandmother pretty much taught me everything I know, but I personally didn't really get into cooking by myself until I was in college."

"Why, did you get into it then," Kirishima questioned.

"Single guy, living on his own… should at least know how to make a decent dinner," Yokozawa shrugged.

Hiyori though, looked on with pure admiration. "Maybe you could teach Papa a thing or two." The rest of the meal was spent listening to Hiyori chatter away about some of her favorite dishes and how she learned to make them. By the time they finished breakfast though, two hours had past by, not that anyone noticed.

* * *

" _That's probably one of the most enjoyable meals I've had since childhood,"_ Yokozawa found himself thinking as he washed dishes. Hiyori had tried to say she would do it all, but Yokozawa had insisted on it because he was a guest and she had already put in so much work for the meal.

He quietly listened as Kirishima and Hiyori talked about their plans for the day. Hiyori wanted to go to temple before it got too busy and go see a movie while Kirishima wanted to go to the mall to pick up some last minute items, then come home and exchange the gifts they had gotten each other, and then go to temple.

"Won't your wife get mad with you making all these plans without her," Yokozawa finally asked as he walked into the den where the two were.

"Oh, Mama won't mind," Hiyori's lips quirked as she ran to her room, having won the discussion with her father.

Yokozawa's brow furrowed in confusion as he looked between where Hiyori had run off too and where Kirishima stood. "My wife, passed away about 8 years ago," Kirishima answered the unspoken question.

"Oh, I am so sorry," Yokozawa quickly replied in surprise.

"It's okay," Kirishima chuckled. "It happened a long time ago, and anyway she'd be happy to know that we're celebrating Christmas and sharing it with someone else."

Yokozawa's face turned red at this statement. "I didn't ask you too," he quickly shot back embarrassed, to which Kirishima burst out laughing. Suddenly, the bell rang.

"Well, while you cool down, I'm going to go answer the door," Kirishima still blithely chuckled at Yokozawa's embarrassment. As he walked away, Hiyori came back, struggling with the zipper of her coat as it was stuck.

"Here let me help you," Yokozawa quickly said, in an attempt to forget his previous outburst and embarrassment.

"Thank you Onii-chan," Hiyo smiled up at him. Yokozawa bent down and started to fiddle with it to get it unstuck. "Hey, do you know who's at the door?"

"No, your father went to answer it just before you came out. So, you want to go to temple, why? I thought most young people like yourself would vie to go to the mall like your father was."

"Oh, I always go and say a special prayer for Mama at this time of year, and one for Grandma and Grandpa because Mama was their only child."

Yokozawa paused and looked into Hiyori's eyes. There was no sadness or anger for the loss of her mother there, but rather hope… like she thought her small gestures of kindness could… well Yokozawa didn't actually know what the little girl hoped for. "You're a very kind and thoughtful person," he whispered. Hiyori's cheeks seemed to take on the hue that had just left Yokozawa's face, but she didn't say a word, instead choosing to simply lower her head at the compliment. After a few more moments, Yokozawa finally got the youngster's coat all zipped up and ready to go.

Suddenly a look of shock crossed Hiyori's face, "Wait, your not going to go home now are you? Papa said you'd be with us the entire day, but I understand that me and Papa going to temple might be… Well was there something you wanted to do?"

"You know, actually nothing sounds better," he smiled gently at the little girl.

"Really?"

"Really, really. I just need to grab my coat and shoes." With that, it only took a minute to find Yokozawa's coat with Hiyori trailing after him chattering away about the movie they would go see later. Once done, they headed to the front door and the genkan where Kirishima still was. However, upon reaching there, both Hiyori and Yokozawa realized that the older man was talking to someone.

Yokozawa only caught a glance of the man before he and Hiyori headed back to the kitchen to avoid interrupting the two. The man Kirishima was talking too looked to be in his mid-thirties, with raven hair, and ocean colored eyes.

"So do you know who that man is, that is talking to your father," asked Yokozawa curiously.

"Oh that guy, he comes by every so often. He's a police officer."

Yokozawa furrowed his brow at this. Kirishima was a pain in his neck but what could he be doing that could warrant frequent stops by the cops? _"Maybe, I'm not the only one he's blackmailing,"_ he thought.

 _"Does he really strike you as someone who goes around blackmailing people?"_ his devil's advocate's voice chimed in.

 _"Really? Then do you have another explanation for why a cop is investigating him?"_

 _"Well, Hiyori never actually said he was under investigation."_

 _"Well of course he wouldn't tell his daughter that!"_

 _"And, you never know, maybe there old friends, maybe e witnessed a crime and is actually under police protection, there could literally be a million explanations."_

 _"And in those million explanations, it does not necessarily exclude any criminal behavior now does it?"_

His devil's advocate's voice did not respond to this, leaving Yokozawa to wonder, what exactly Kirishima and the cops involvement was.


End file.
